Barcelona maintains 11-point lead over Real Madrid after a big win over a weakened Betis

The most attractive clash of the 32nd round of the Spanish La Liga promised to be Saturday’s clash between the league leader and the sixth team in the table. Both teams are motivated until the end of the season. While Barcelona is on a promising path to win the title, Real Betis is aiming to participate in the European Cup. However, the Sevilla club’s footballers did not fare well at the Camp Nou and the Blaugranas won 4-0. How did the game go?

The opening shot of the match brought the opening score in the 14th minute. Xavi’s team was sent into the lead by a precise header from returnee Andreas Christensen, assisted by Raphinha, who centred from the right.

Just before that, the first substitution was made in the ranks of the team led by coach Manuel Pellegrini. The injured Luiz Felipe was replaced by Edgar González.

It was he who was shown a yellow card by referee Carlos del Cerro Grande ten minutes later for a foul in front of his own penalty area. Raphinha headed the ensuing direct free kick from an interesting position into the bottom left corner of Ruia Silva’s goal, but the Betis goalkeeper dealt with the attempt.

In the 33rd minute, González stepped on Pedri’s shoulder, which was the last time he intervened in the match. A second yellow brought an end to his 20 minutes on the pitch. The referee then issued a yellow warning to the Sevilla head coach.

Three minutes later, Robert Lewandowski punished the weakened opponents with a goal. From the right, Koundé passed him accurately into the penalty area and the Polish cannonballer calmly cleared the ball to the bar.

In the 39th minute, the active Raphinha scored. Afterwards, the VAR examined whether he was offside at the time of Busquets’ pass behind the defence, but everything went according to the rules and Barça were already 3-0 up.

Midfielder Paul Akouokou replaced striker Luiz Henrique at the break. In the 53rd minute, he had a great chance for his teammate Miranda, but was denied by Marc-André ter Stegen.

Four minutes later, Lewandowski had a second chance to score, but his quick finish was deflected onto the bar. The Blaugranas continued to dominate the game and the shooting. Moreover, the visitors finished the final ten minutes with nine men, as no one from the bench could replace the injured Joaquín, who was forty-one.

Guido Rodríguez scored an own goal in the 82nd minute to make the final score 4-0, after he knocked a pass from Ansu Fati into his own net. Lamine Yamal, the home team’s big talent, who is only 15 years old, came on for the last minutes for the first time for the A-team.

Barcelona made amends for Wednesday’s unexpected defeat by Rayo Vallecano and maintained their eleven-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. The latter faced Almería in the evening match, which they beat 4-2 thanks to Benzema’s hat-trick.

Source: La Liga, Nova Sport 4